I was told by my betters that no filter, however
excellent, can improve the flare characteristics of a
lens. I guess I believe this. I'm skeptical that a filter
can improve anything in the light transferring capabilities
of a lens. But someone should test your hypothesis with a
few Zuiko SC samples. But one question: how would you know
if you had flare only from the front element? What are the
tell-tale signs of this kind of flare?
Gary Reese tested filters once and reported that among his
samples he had some B+Ws which were bad and some Vivitars
which were good. In general the Hoyas did well and as I
was already using them, I just stayed with them. Many
swear by the German brands. I have a couple that I like
but haven't noted them to be superior in any way other
than I like the color of the B+W thin polarizer I have. Oh,
and the build quality, too.
Gary suggested making test exposures in which there is a
sharp glare point, like sun flashing off chrome. Honestly,
when I've done that I've not noticed an iota of
degradation in using any filter whatsoever, at least in 49
and 55 mm sizes. On the other hand, I've only one 77mm good
enough to put on my Tamron 80-200, which is fortunately a
Tiffen POL (but unfortunately linear).
I just try to shoot without a filter as much as possible
unless I want the effect. I use a POL a lot, much more than
a UV. Mostly the UVs are like screw-on lens caps.
Joel W.
Quoting Andrew Fildes <afildes@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
>
> I tend to think that a good filter cannot improve a poor
> lens and
> that a poor filter CAN degrade a good lens - too much
> evidence from
> too many sources. However, I suspect that a good MC
> filter could
> improve the tendency of a poorly coated lens to flare off
> the font
> elements - act as a flare supressor to some extent. Of
> course, i
> don't own any poor lenses that I could test :)
> I've managed to get good filters at low prices often
> enough not to
> make it a necessity to mess around with low grade items.
> I am amazed
> by how much people spend on questionable filters, often
> at point of
> sale. I'm clumsy enough to make a B+W or Heliopan UV 010
> a good
> precaution for knock and dirt and I have acquired
> several at bargain
> prices at various times. Plus the coating on the German
> ones is
> scratch resistant too and the brass doesn't bind.
> Polarisers I've found to be much more variable ranging
> from blue to
> grey to warm tones between brands and the expensive ones
> don't always
> give the most pleasing effect.
> AndrewF
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